Blog

MacNairs + Wilson

2017’s Biggest House Price Move Locations

New research from Halifax has revealed the towns and cities in the UK that experienced the biggest increases in house prices in 2017, and also the biggest price falls.

The highest percentage increase apparently took place in the Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham, with average prices increasing by 13% compared to the previous year, taking the average house price to £313,150. This increase is apparently almost five times the 2.7% increase experienced across the UK as a whole.

The seaside town of Bournemouth came in second place, with an increase of 11.7%, while Brighton completed the top three, with an 11.4% rise in the past year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 15 of the 20 top house price performers are in London and southern England – these include Crawley (10.4%), Newham (10.2%), Peterborough (10.1%) and Gloucester (9.5%).

Thirteen towns recorded declines in house prices in 2017, with the largest fall in Perth from £190,813 in 2016 to £180,687 (-5.3%).

There were also marginal price decreases in a number of other towns: three in Scotland - Paisley (-3.6%), Dunfermline (-2.2%) and Aberdeen (-1.1%); five in Yorkshire and the Humber – Wakefield (-2.9%), Rotherham (-2.2%), Barnsley (-1.6%), Bradford (-0.4%) and Leeds (-0.4%); one in the West Midlands – Stoke on Trent (-4.0%); Bromley in the South East (-0.6%); Hounslow in Greater London (-0.2%); and Sunderland in the North (-0.2%).

“The majority of towns in which house prices have dropped in the last year, are situated within Scotland or Yorkshire and the Humber,” commented Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax. “Generally speaking, property prices in these areas have been constrained by lower employment levels or relatively weaker economic conditions when compared to those areas that have seen house price growth.”